Campfire Safety Guide

Transcription

1 Campfire Safety Guide August 27, /10

2 A crackling campfire is one of the most enjoyable parts of a camping trip. There s simply nothing like sitting around the fire with friends and family, telling spooky stories, roasting marshmallows and enjoying the way the flames dance in the night. But you must be sure to keep your campfire contained and employ sound safety protocols. Otherwise, your charming campfire may turn into a raging wildfire, which will not only threaten countless plants and animals but those people living near wilderness areas too. Fortunately, it isn t terribly difficult to keep your campfire safe. Just follow the tips and suggestions detailed below, and you ll be able to enjoy a safe campfire that doesn t threaten the very wilderness you re trying to enjoy. Use Existing Fire Circles When Possible The vast majority of popular campsites will already have fire circles in place. As long as the fire circle is in a safe and logical location, it is usually best to use the existing one rather than building a new one from scratch. This will help keep the campsite as natural-looking as possible, and it ll save you time that you can devote to different tasks. Additionally, by using existing fire circles, it ll help keep all of the potentially dangerous coals and embers in a single place. If you construct a new fire circle, you ll just be setting up an additional place that requires care and monitoring. 2/10

3 Design the Fire Properly 3/10

4 If you have to build your own fire circle, be sure that you do so in the proper manner. Make the fire circle by scraping away all of the leaf litter and vegetation from a circular area about 10-feet in diameter. Be sure to locate the fire circle in a safe place don t, for example, situate it under overhanging trees. Line the circumference of the circle with rocks. Then, before starting the fire, clear the ground outside of the fire circle. An extra 5 feet is usually sufficient, but 10 is preferable in fire-prone regions. You ll also want to make sure that you keep any other flammable items a safe distance from the fire. This includes things like your tent and backpack; also, be sure your stove fuel isn t anywhere near the fire. In fact, it is often wise to consider the fire ring your first priority when laying out the campsite you can move your tent, you can t (easily) move the fire pit. So, check out the fire pit location first, and then set your tent and other gear up accordingly (and upwind of the fire). 4/10

5 Keep the Fire Contained 5/10

6 Above everything else, you need to keep the fire inside the fire circle. Do this, and you ll eliminate many of the potential problems and hazards that campfires present. Accordingly, you ll want to keep the size of your fire modest and be sure that all of the logs and sticks completely fit inside the fire circle. Don t drag a 10-foot log to the fire and try to keep pushing it farther into the fire as it burns doing so courts disaster. Simply put, all flammable items should be kept inside the fire circle and the area surrounding the fire circle should be completely free of flammable items. It s also important to prevent flaming embers from escaping the fire circle by floating upward. You can t completely eliminate floating embers, but you can reduce the number produced by being careful what you add to the fire. Don t, for example, add dead leaves, pine needs or other lightweight items to a burning fire. They ll quickly ignite and be carried upward by the fire s updraft. You can use dead leaves or similar types of tinder when you are starting the fire, but once the fire is burning, you should only add relatively thick sticks or logs. 6/10

7 7/10

8 Be Careful What You Burn Not every stick or branch you find in the forest is suitable for your campfire. You must be careful of things that could be toxic when burned, such as poison ivy vines or poison sumac branches (the smoke produced by either can cause you to suffer severe respiratory distress). It s also important to avoid burning some species of wood because they re apt to pop and crackle in the fire, potentially sending flaming embers in all directions. These kinds of sounds may be romantic when they occur in a fireplace behind a metal screen, but they spell danger in the forest. Hemlock wood is one of the most notorious such species, but most softwoods, including several pines and firs, will also throw a lot of sparks. If you have your choice of woods, oaks and hickories are both reliable options (in fact, most hardwoods make good and safe fuel for the fire). And although it should go without saying, don t burn anything besides wood, dead vegetation or paper in your fire. Throwing plastics, metals, glass or liquids into the fire can often be extremely dangerous, so don t try to use your campfire as a trash incinerator. 8/10

9 Once the Fire Is Lit, You Can t Leave 9/10

10 You should never leave a burning fire unattended even for a moment. It only takes a few seconds for a fire to grow out of control, and you ll need to be present and paying attention to prevent this from happening. Want to leave the morning fire going while you day hike? You better leave someone behind to tend it. Need to go get more firewood? Someone has to stay behind to keep an eye on the fire. Keep this rule in mind when you re gathering firewood too. You don t want to have to extinguish your fire because you need to go looking for more firewood always collect twice as much as you think you ll need. 10/10